List of military occupations explained

This article presents a list of military occupations, both historic and contemporary, but only those that have taken place since the customary laws of belligerent military occupation were first clarified and supplemented by the Hague Convention of 1907.^[1]

As currently understood in international law, "military occupation" is the effective military control by a power of a territory outside of said power's recognized sovereign territory.^[2] The occupying power in question may be an individual state or a supranational organization, such as the United Nations.

Contemporary occupations

	Territory	Since	Occupied state/territory	Occupying state	Occupier's declared state/territory	Status
	Transnistria	1992				Occupied by an armed group under the influence of a foreign power
	Abkhazia	2008				Occupied by an armed group under the influence of a foreign power
	data-sort-value="Ossetia"				South Ossetia
	data-sort-value="Crimea"	Crimea^[3] ^[4]	2014			nowrap	Federal subjects of Russia	Occupied and annexed by a foreign power
	data-sort-value="Luhansk and Donetsk"	Significant parts of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia OblastsNegligible parts of Kharkiv and Mykolaiv Oblasts	2014 2022			Federal subjects of Russia Kherson Oblast Outer Kinburn Peninsula (Mykolaiv Oblast) Zaporizhzhia Oblast ---- Tavilzhanka's environs, area north of Vovchansk (Kharkiv Oblast)	Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia Oblasts: DPR & LPR: Occupied by an armed group under the influence of a foreign power (2014–2022) Four oblasts: Occupied and annexed by a foreign power (2022) ----Mykolaiv Oblast: Occupied and partially annexed by a foreign power; territory mostly recaptured by Ukraine ----Kharkiv Oblast: Occupied by a foreign power
	Parts of Kursk Oblast	2024			Ukrainian occupation of Kursk Oblast	Occupied by a foreign power^[5]
	data-sort-value="Jerusalem"	East Jerusalem^[6] ^[7] ^[8] ^[9]	1967	Palestinian territories			Occupied and annexed by a foreign power^[10] ^[11]
West Bank^[12]	Judea and Samaria Area	Occupied by a foreign power,^[13] with de facto partial annexation in the West Bank
Gaza Strip
Golan Heights^[14] ^[15] ^[16]				Occupied and annexed by a foreign power Recognized by only the United States as part of Israel.^[17]
		data-sort-value="Al-Tanf"	Al-Tanf^[18]	2015			Occupied by an armed group under the influence of a foreign power
		data-sort-value="Aleppo"	Azaz, al-Bab and Jarabulus Districts^[19] ^[20]	2016		Syrian Interim Government	Occupied by an armed group under the influence of a foreign power
Afrin District		2018	Occupied by an armed group under the influence of a foreign power^[21]
Tell Abyad and Ras al-Ayn Districts		2019	Occupied by an armed group under the influence of a foreign power
data-sort-value="Cyprus"	Northern Cyprus^[22]	1974		nowrap			Occupied by an armed group under the influence of a foreign power^[23]
	Sofulu, Barxudarlı, Yukhari Askipara and Karki^[24]	1992			Part of the Tavush and Ararat Provinces	Occupied by a foreign power
	Artsvashen^[25]				Part of the Gadabay Rayon
	Portions of Syunik, Vayots Dzor, and Gegharkunik Provinces	2021 2022			Armenian territory occupied by Azerbaijan
	Majority of Western Sahara^[26]	1975				Occupied and annexed by a foreign power

Historical occupations

Events before the Hague Convention of 1907 are out of scope.

1907–1919 (miscellaneous)

Occupied territory	Years	Occupied state	Occupying state	Event	Part of war(s)	Subsequently annexed?
Korea				Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905	Aftermath of Russo-Japanese War	Yes
Cuba	1906–1909			Provisional Government of Cuba	Banana Wars	No
Libya				Invasion of Libya	Italo-Turkish War	Yes
Albania	^[27]			Occupation of Albania	Balkan Wars	No
Nicaragua				Occupation of Nicaragua	Banana Wars	No
Veracruz				Occupation of Veracruz	Mexican Revolution	No

World War I and immediate aftermath

Occupied territory	Years	Occupied state	Occupying state	Event	Part of war(s)	Subsequently annexed?
Albania	1916–1918			Occupation of Albania	World War I	No
Eastern Galicia	1914–1915			Occupation of Eastern Galicia		No
Belgium	1914–1918			Occupation of Belgium		No
Northeastern France	1914–1918			Invasion of Northeastern France		No
Luxembourg	1914–1918			Occupation of Luxembourg		No
Congress Poland	1914–1918			Invasion of Russian Poland		No
Parts of the Baltic governorates and Vilna Governorate-General	1914–1919			Invasion of Baltic Russia		No
German South West Africa	1914–1915			South West Africa campaign		Yes
Governorate of Serbia	1915–1918			Occupation of Serbia		No
Serbia	1915–1918			Invasion of Serbia		No
Eastern Serbia	1915–1918			Occupation of Eastern Serbia		No
Serbian Macedonia	1915–1918			Occupation of Serbian Macedonia		Yes
Albania	1915–1917^[28]			Occupation of Albania		No
Montenegro	1916–1918			Invasion of Montenegro		No
Haiti	1915–1934			Occupation of Haiti	Banana Wars	No
Dominican Republic	1916–1924			Occupation of the Dominican Republic		No
Cuba	1917–1922			Sugar Intervention		No
Northeast Italy	1917–1918			Invasion of Northeastern Italy	World War I	No
Parts of the Russian Far East, Caucasus, Parts of Northern Russia			China	Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War	Russian Civil War	No
Constantinople	1918–1923				Occupation of Constantinople	Aftermath of World War I	No
Smyrna	1919–1922			Occupation of Smyrna	No
Rhineland	1918–1930		United Kingdom Belgium United States	Occupation of the Rhineland	No
Eastern Galicia	1918–1919			Polish–Ukrainian War	Yes
Volhynia	1918–1919				Partial
Ukraine	1918–1920			Ukrainian–Soviet War	Yes

1920–1946 (miscellaneous)

Occupied territory	Years	Occupied state	Occupying state	Event	Part of war(s)	Subsequently annexed?
Transcaucasia	1920	Azerbaijan		Invasion of Azerbaijan	Russian Civil War	Yes
	1921			Invasion of Georgia		Yes
Ruhr	1923–1924			Occupation of the Ruhr	Aftermath of World War I	No
Manchuria / Manchukuo	1931–1945			Invasion of Manchuria	Second Sino-Japanese War	No
Xinjiang	1934			Invasion of Xinjiang	Kumul Rebellion	No

World War II: build up and immediate aftermath

Occupied territory	Years	Occupied state	Occupying state	Event	Part of war(s)	Subsequently annexed?
Ethiopia	1935–1941			Invasion of Ethiopia	Second Italo-Ethiopian War	Yes
Parts of China	1937–1945			Second Sino-Japanese War	World War II	No
Shanghai	1937–1945					No
Austria	1938			Anschluss	Events preceding World War II in Europe	Yes
Sudetenland^[29]	1938			Munich Agreement		Yes
Bohemia and Moravia	1939–1945			Occupation of Czechoslovakia		No
Memel Territory	1939–1945			Occupation of Memel		Yes
Albania	1939–1945			Invasion of Albania		No
Carpathian Ruthenia	1938			First Vienna Award		Yes
Carpatho-Ukraine	1939–1944			Invasion of Carpatho-Ukraine		Yes
Poland				Invasion of Poland	World War II	Partial
Eastern Poland	1939–1941			Annexation of Polish territories	Partial
Parts of Finland	1939–1940			Winter War	Partial
British Somaliland	1940–1941			Italian invasion of British Somaliland	Yes
Belgium	1940–1945			Invasion of Belgium	No
Denmark	1940–1945			Invasion of Denmark	No
Faroe Islands	1940–1945			Occupation of the Faroe Islands	No
Greenland	1940–1945			Greenland in World War II	No
Hankoniemi	1940–1941			Winter War	No
Iceland	1940–1945			Occupation of Iceland	No
					No
Northern France	1940–1944			Invasion of Northern France	No
Southeastern France	1940–1943			Italian invasion of France	No
Vietnam	1940–1945			Invasion of French Indochina	No
Baltic states	1940–1941			Soviet occupation of the Baltic states	Yes
Luxembourg	1940–1945			Occupation of Luxembourg	No
Netherlands	1940–1945			Invasion of the Netherlands	No
Norway	1940–1945			Invasion of Norway	No
Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina and the Hertsa region	1940			Occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina	Yes
Channel Islands	1940–1945			Occupation of the Channel Islands	No
Cambodia	1941–1945			Invasion of Cambodia	No
Greece	1941–1944			Occupation of Greece	No
Iran	1941–1946			Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran	No
Byelorussia	1941–1944			Occupation of Byelorussia	No
Ukraine				Occupation of Ukraine
Baltic states				Occupation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (de jure independent, de facto under Soviet rule)
Parts of European Russia				Eastern Front
Eastern Karelia				Continuation War	No
Guam	1941–1944			Occupation of Guam	No
Transnistria	1941–1944			Operation Barbarossa	No
Borneo	1941–1945			Occupation of British Borneo	No
Hong Kong	1941–1945			Occupation of Hong Kong	No
Malaya	1941–1945			Occupation of Malaya	No
Yugoslavia	1941–1945			Military operations in the territory of Yugoslavia	No
New Caledonia	1942–1945			New Caledonia during WWII	No
New Guinea	1942–1945			New Guinea campaign	No
Nauru	1942–1945			Occupation of Nauru	No
Andaman Islands	1942–1945			Occupation of the Andaman Islands	No
Dutch East Indies	1942–1945			Occupation of Dutch East Indies	No
Philippines	1942–1945			Occupation of the Philippines	No
Portuguese Timor	1942–1945			Battle of Timor	No
Burma (Myanmar)	1942–1945			Occupation of Burma	No
Singapore	1942–1945			Occupation of Singapore	No
Kiska	1942–1943			Occupation of Kiska	No
Attu	1942–1943			Occupation of Attu	No
Italian Libya	1943–1951			Allied occupation of Libya	No
Italy	1943–1945			Occupation of Italy, Italian campaign	No
Hungary	1944–1945			Occupation of Hungary	No
Italy	1943–1945			Occupation of Italy, Italian campaign	No
France	1944–1946			Liberation of France	No
Baltic states	1944–1991			1944 Soviet re-occupation, Baltic states under Soviet rule	Yes
Bulgaria	1944–1947			Occupation of Bulgaria	No
Romania	1944–1958			Occupation of Romania	No
Poland	1944–1956			Soviet presence in Poland	No
Hungary	1944–1949			Occupation of Hungary	No
Porkkalanniemi	1944–1956			Continuation War	No
Carpathian Ruthenia	1944–1945			Annexation of Carpathian Ruthenia	Yes
Northern part of East Prussia/Kaliningrad Oblast	1945			East Prussian offensive	Yes
Manchuria	1945–1946			Soviet–Japanese War	No
Austria	1945–1955			Allied-occupied Austria	Aftermath of World War II	No
East Germany, incl. East Berlin	1945–1949			Allied-occupied Germany		No
West Germany	1945–1949
West Berlin	1945–1990
Saarland	1945–1957			Saar Protectorate		No
Northern Iran	1945–1946			Iran crisis of 1946		No
Japan (mainland)	1945–1951			Occupation of Japan		No
Tokara Islands	1945–1952
Amami Islands	1945–1953
Ogasawara archipelago	1945–1968
Daitō Islands and Ryukyu Islands	1945–1972
Taiwan, Pescadores, and Itu Aba	1945–1952^[30]			History of Taiwan since 1945		No
Korea	1945–1948			Occupation of Korea		No
Southern Vietnam and Saigon	1945–1946			War of Vietnam		No

1947–1959

Occupied territory	Years	Occupied state	Occupying state	Event	Part of war(s)	Subsequently annexed?
Junagadh	1947–1948			Annexation of Junagadh		Yes
West Bank		Post-Mandate Palestine		Jordanian annexation of the West Bank	1948 Arab–Israeli War	Yes
Gaza Strip	1948–1956 1957–1967		Egypt	Occupation of the Gaza Strip by Egypt		No
Hyderabad	1948			Annexation of Hyderabad	Yes
Sikkim	1949^[31] –1950			Intervention in Sikkim	No
Tibet	1949–1951			Annexation of Tibet	Yes
Northern Jordan Valley^[32]	1949-1967			1949 Armistice Agreements	1948 Arab–Israeli War	No
Dadra and Nagar Haveli	1954–1974			Annexation of Dadra and Nagar Haveli		Yes
Suez Canal Zone	1956	Egypt		Suez Crisis	Arab–Israeli conflict	No
Sinai	1956–1957					No
Gaza Strip						No
Hungary	1956			Hungarian Uprising	Hungarian Revolution of 1956	No
Laos	1959–1975			Invasion of Laos	Laotian Civil War	No

1960–1979

Occupied territory	Years	Occupied state	Occupying state	Event	Part of war(s)	Subsequently annexed?
Goa, Daman and Diu	1961–1974			Annexation of Goa		Yes
Aksai Chin	1962			Sino-Indian War	Sino-Indian War	Yes
Arunachal Pradesh	1962					No
Dominican Republic	1965–1966			Invasion of the Dominican Republic	Dominican Civil War	No
Sinai				Six-Day War	Arab–Israeli conflict	No
Czechoslovakia				Invasion of Czechoslovakia	Prague Spring	No
East Pakistan (became Bangladesh)	1971			Indo-Pakistani War of 1971	Bangladesh Liberation War	No
Southern half of Vietnam	1975–1976			1975 spring offensive	Vietnam War	Yes
Parts of Angola	1975–1976			South African invasion of Angola	South African Border War	No
Tiris al-Gharbiyya	1975–1979			Battles of La Güera and Tichla	Western Sahara War	No
East Timor	1975–1999			Invasion of East Timor	Indonesian occupation of East Timor	Yes
Aouzou Strip	1976–1987			Occupation of the Aouzou Strip	Chadian–Libyan War	No
Parts of Lebanon				Syrian occupation of Lebanon	Lebanese Civil War	No
Kagera Region	1978			Ugandan invasion of Kagera	Uganda–Tanzania War	No
Southern Lebanon	1978–1984		Free Lebanon State	1978 South Lebanon conflict	Lebanese Civil War	No
	1984–2000			1982 Lebanon War	1982 Lebanon War	No
Cambodia	1978–1989			Invasion of Kampuchea	Cambodian–Vietnamese War	No
Parts of Vietnam	1979			Invasion of Vietnam	Sino-Vietnamese War	No
Afghanistan	1979–1989			Invasion of Afghanistan	Afghan–Soviet War	No

1980–1999

Occupied territory	Years	Occupied state	Occupying state	Event	Part of war(s)	Subsequently annexed?
Falkland Islands	1982			Occupation of the Falkland Islands	Falklands War	No
Grenada	1983			Invasion of Grenada	Grenadian Revolution	No
Northern Province	1987–1990			Indian intervention in the Sri Lankan Civil War	Sri Lankan Civil War	No
Maldives	1988			1988 Maldives coup d'état		No
Panama	nowrap	1989–1990			Invasion of Panama	War on drugs	No
Kuwait	1990–1991		Kuwait Governorate Saddamiyat al-Mitla' District	Invasion of Kuwait	Gulf War	Yes
Seven districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh	1992–2020			First Nagorno-Karabakh War	Nagorno-Karabakh conflict	Yes (by Artsakh)
Haiti	1994–1995			Operation Uphold Democracy	1991 Haitian coup d'état	No
Lesotho	1998–1999			Operation Boleas	Lesotho general election riots	No
Parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo	nowrap	1998–2002^[33]			Foreign support to the DR Congo	Second Congo War	No

2000–2019

Occupied territory	Years	Occupied state	Occupying state	Event	Part of war(s)	Subsequently annexed?
Northern Red Sea and Southern Red Sea regions of Eritrea	2000–2018			Regions were seized at the end of the Eritrean–Ethiopian War in 2000, and subsequently delimited^[34] and demarcated^[35] by the Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague to be Eritrean territory. Eritrea recaptured the lands during the Tigray war.	Eritrean–Ethiopian War	No
Afghanistan	2001–2002		and other troops	United States invasion of Afghanistan	War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)	No
Iraq	2003–2004		nowrap	and other troops^[36]	2003 invasion of Iraq Occupation of Iraq	Iraq War	No
Parts of Somalia	^[37]			Somalia War (2006–2009)	nowrap	Somali Civil War	No
Gori and Poti	2008			Occupation of Gori and Poti	Russo-Georgian War	No
Perevi	2008–2010			Occupation of Perevi		No
Socotra	2018			Takeover of Socotra	nowrap	Yemeni Civil War	No

2020–present

Occupied territory	Years	Occupied state	Occupying state	Event	Part of war(s)	Subsequently annexed?
	2022–2024			Russian invasion of Ukraine	Russo-Ukrainian War	No
Parts of Mykolaiv Oblast Snihurivka's environs Other briefly-held areas						Partial
Parts of Kursk Oblast	2024			August 2024 Kursk Oblast incursion	Russo-Ukrainian War	No

See also

• Russian-occupied territories
• Israeli-occupied territories
• Military occupations by the Soviet Union
• Peacekeeping – military deployments for peace-keeping purposes
• List of military and civilian missions of the European Union
• Annexation
• Revanchism
• For a list of states that have seceded unilaterally see List of states with limited recognition
• For a list of cases where territory is disputed between countries, see List of territorial disputes

Bibliography

• • Book: Chapman, Jessica M. . Cauldron of Resistance: Ngo Dinh Diem, the United States, and 1950s Southern Vietnam . Cornell University Press . Ithaca, New York . 2013 . 978-0-8014-5061-7 .

Footnotes and references

References

Notes and References

1. Web site: Laws and Customs of War on Land (Hague IV); October 18, 1907 . The Avalon Project at the Yale Law School. June 20, 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/19990225111007/http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/lawofwar/hague04.htm . 1999-02-25.
2. Book: Bracka, J. . Transitional Justice for Palestine: Truth-Telling and Empathy in Ongoing Conflict . Springer International Publishing AG . Springer series in transitional justice . 2021 . 978-3-030-89435-1 . Today, the widely accepted definition of occupation is 'the effective control of a power (be it one or more states or an international organization, such as the United Nations) over a territory to which that power has no sovereign title, without the volition of the sovereign of that territory'.
3. Book: Complex Political Decision-Making: Leadership, Legitimacy and Communication . Peter Bursens . Christ'l De Landtsheer . Luc Braeckmans . Barbara Segaert . Taylor & Francis . 2016 . 170. 9781315453521 .
4. Russia's Annexation of Crimea: The Mills of International Law Grind Slowly but They Do Grind . Geiß . Robin . International Law Studies . 91 . the Stockton Center for the Study of International Law . 2015. 2019-10-11.
5. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-opens-military-office-occupied-kursk-region-says-it-is-still-advancing-2024-08-15/
6. Web site: Israel plans 1,300 East Jerusalem Jewish settler homes . BBC News. 9 November 2010. 2019-10-11.
7. Web site: Chapter 12: The status of Jerusalem . The Question of Palestine & the United Nations. United Nations Department of Public Information. Brochure . March 2003. https://web.archive.org/web/20030902113931/https://www.un.org/Depts/dpi/palestine/ch12.pdf . 2003-09-02.
8. Web site: Israeli authorities back 600 new East Jerusalem homes . BBC News. 26 February 2010. 2019-10-11.
9. Web site: United Nations Security Council Resolution 298 (1971) of 25 September 1971. https://web.archive.org/web/20130819003928/http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/0/441329a958089eaa852560c4004ee74d?OpenDocument . 2013-08-19.
10. Book: Duval . A. . Kassoti . E. . The Legality of Economic Activities in Occupied Territories: International, EU Law and Business and Human Rights Perspectives . Taylor & Francis . Routledge Research in International Economic Law . 2020 . 978-1-000-08873-1 . In the West Bank, Israel pays lip service to the notion of a temporary occupation that is to be brought to an end by negotiation but in practice it has de facto annexed large portions of the territory under the pretext of security – as evidenced by the Wall in Palestinian territory – or by the settling of some 400,000 of its own citizens in the territory. In most cases today, however, the occupying power has formally annexed the territory in question. This is illustrated by the cases of Israel's annexations of East Jerusalem and the Golan, Morocco's annexation of Western Sahara and Russia's annexation of the Crimea. Alternatively, the occupying power has established a puppet regime that claims to be the TRNC, Abkhazia and South Ossetia..

11. "An occupied territory may also be illegally annexed [...] Annexation means that the territory is incorporated into another state and is being regarded by that state as a part of its territory. Among contemporary examples, one finds the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem, Western Sahara and Crimea. Under current international law, annexation can only be carried out after a peace treaty, and preferably after a referendum. Annexations which do not correspond to this requirement – like those just mentioned – are illegal."

12. Book: Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Advisory opinion . Reports of Judgments, Advisory Opinions and Orders . International Court of Justice. 2004. 92-1-070993-4 . 2019-10-11.

13. "Territory over which a foreign power has taken control is occupied. [...] An occupation is supposed to be a temporary status, but current reality shows that territory may be occupied for decades; the West Bank and Gaza have been occupied for 48 years."

14. • "The international community maintains that the Israeli decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan is null and void and without international legal effect." Book: The Situation of Workers of the Occupied Arab Territories . International Labour Office. Geneva . International Labour Office . 2009 . 978-92-2-120630-9 . 23.
    • In 2008, a plenary session of the United Nations General Assembly voted by 161–1 in favour of a motion on the "occupied Syrian Golan" that reaffirmed support for UN Resolution 497. ( General Assembly adopts broad range of texts, 26 in all, on recommendation of its fourth Committee, including on decolonization, information, Palestine refugees . United Nations . 5 December 2008.)
    • "[...] the Golan Heights, a 450-square mile portion of southwestern Syria that Israel occupied during the 1967 Arab–Israeli war." Also, "[...] the Syrian Golan Heights territory, which Israel has occupied since 1967". (Web site: Prados. Alfred B. . CRS Issue Brief for Congress: Syria: U.S. Relations and Bilateral Issues. Congressional Research Service. 3, 4. 19 January 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20060323113431/https://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/62681.pdf. 2006-03-23.)
15. Occupied territory:
    • "[...] Israeli-occupied Golan Heights [...]" (Book: Central Intelligence Agency . CIA World Factbook 2010 . OCCUPIED GOLAN. . Skyhorse Publishing Inc.. 2009 . 339 . 978-1-60239-727-9.)
    • "[...] the United States considers the Golan Heights to be occupied territory subject to negotiation and Israeli withdrawal [...]" (Web site: Mark. Clyde R. . CRS Issue Brief for Congress: Israeli-United States Relations . Congressional Research Service . 5 April 2002. 8. https://web.archive.org/web/20030424042458/https://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/9570.pdf. 2003-04-24. dead.)
    • "[...] Occupied Golan Heights." (Web site: Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories travel advice . https://web.archive.org/web/20100811045929/http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/middle-east-north-africa/israel-occupied . 11 August 2010 . dead. UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. 5 August 2010.)
    • "In the ICRC's view, the Golan is an occupied territory [...]" (Web site: ICRC activities in the occupied Golan during 2007. International Committee of the Red Cross. 24 April 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20111113065232/http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/misc/israel-golan-311207.htm. 2011-11-13. dead.)
16. Book: Korman, Sharon . The Right of Conquest: The Acquisition of Territory by Force in International Law and Practice. Oxford University Press. 1996. 265. 0-19-828007-6. The continued occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights is recognized by many states as valid and consistent with the provisions of the United Nations Charter, on a self-defence basis. Israel, on this view, would be entitled to exact as a condition of withdrawal from the territory the imposition of security measures of an indefinite character—such as perpetual demilitarization, or the emplacement of a United Nations force—which would ensure, or tend to ensure, that the territory would not be used against it for aggression on future occasions. But the notion that Israel is entitled to claim any status other than that of belligerent occupant in the territory which it occupies, or to act beyond the strict bounds laid down in the Fourth Geneva Convention, has been universally rejected by the international community—no less by the United States than by any other state..
17. News: Trump signs decree recognizing Israeli sovereignty over Golan Heights. https://web.archive.org/web/20190325162706/https://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFW1N1ZU01G . dead . 25 March 2019 . Reuters. 25 March 2019. 2019-10-11.
18. News: Syria vows to fight against 'occupiers' US, Turkey, Israel . 28 May 2020 . Middle East Monitor . 20 May 2020.
19. Web site: Skirmishes Mar Fight Against IS in Northern Syria. Voice of America. Kajjo. Sirwan . 2 March 2017. Turkish occupation "is an existential threat to the Assad government's ability to reclaim the entirety of its territory, which is a key argument that regime loyalists make in their support of Bashar al-Assad's government," Heras said..
20. Web site: In northern Syria, defeated Isis fighters leave behind only scorched earth, trenches – and a crucifixion stand. The Independent. Fisk. Robert . Robert Fisk. 29 March 2017. You can't mistake the front line between the Syrian army and Turkey's occupation force east of Aleppo..
21. News: Afrin's Syrian Kurds Continue to Pay Price of Turkey's Occupation . The Defense Post . 15 September 2021.
22. UN Security Council resolutions 353, 357, 358, 359, 360, and 365.

23. "Territory may further be controlled by an armed group. This could be a rebel group which wants to take over control of the government of the state in question or it could be a group that wants to secede from the state and form a new state or have the territory transferred to another state. [...] There is no term in international law for such territory. [...] In some cases, the armed group in power in such a territory may be under the control of or under the influence of a foreign power. As has been held by the European Court of Human Rights, Turkey is legally responsible for human rights violations committed in the non-recognised 'Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus' (TRNC). It is possible that the situation is similar in the self-proclaimed peoples' republics in Donetsk and Lugansk."

24. Web site: Armenian-Azerbaijani Disputes Beyond Karabakh. August 9, 2017. University of Southern California. October 28, 2020.
25. Web site: Cold Comfort for Displaced Armenian Villagers. Institute for War and Peace Reporting. Refworld. February 12, 2011. October 28, 2020.
26. Web site: Military occupation of Western Sahara by Morocco. Rule of Law in Armed Conflicts. Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. 2019-10-11.
27. Web site: 1913 I Leo Freundlich: Albania's Golgotha: Indictment of the Exterminators of the Albanian People. 2012-05-04. https://web.archive.org/web/20120504110038/http://www.albanianhistory.net/texts20_1/AH1913_1.html. Elsie. Robert . Robert Elsie. Texts and Documents of Albanian History .
28. Book: Die Militärverwaltung in den von den österreichisch-ungarischen Truppen besetzten Gebieten, Nide 4 . Kerchnawe. Hugo . Mitzka. Rudolf . Sobotka. Felix . Leidl. Hermann . Krauss . Alfred . 1928 . Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky A.G.. de.
29. Glassheim . Eagle . 2006 . Ethnic Cleansing, Communism, and Environmental Devastation in Czechoslovakia's Borderlands, 1945–1989 . The Journal of Modern History . 78 . 1. 65–92 . 10.1086/499795 . 142647561 .
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